The Silkworm, the sequel to The Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith, was released today! In case you didn’t hear the news last July, you should know that Robert Galbraith is a pseudonym that J.K. Rowling has been using to write this now two-part series about private detective Cormoran Strike. Amazon has this to say about The Silkworm:
When novelist Owen Quine goes missing, his wife calls in private detective Cormoran Strike. At first, Mrs. Quine just thinks her husband has gone off by himself for a few days–as he has done before–and she wants Strike to find him and bring him home.
But as Strike investigates, it becomes clear that there is more to Quine’s disappearance than his wife realizes. The novelist has just completed a manuscript featuring poisonous pen-portraits of almost everyone he knows. If the novel were to be published, it would ruin lives–meaning that there are a lot of people who might want him silenced.
When Quine is found brutally murdered under bizarre circumstances, it becomes a race against time to understand the motivation of a ruthless killer, a killer unlike any Strike has encountered before…
A compulsively readable crime novel with twists at every turn, THE SILKWORM is the second in the highly acclaimed series featuring Cormoran Strike and his determined young assistant, Robin Ellacott.
Furthermore, these two images feature the US and UK editions:
You’ll notice that, unlike the The Cuckoo’s Calling, The Silkworm uses the same cover art for both editions. However, the typeface is different. The UK edition, on the left, and the US edition, on the right, both use fonts that are similar to the fonts used on the covers of their predecessors. Personally, I prefer the US edition.
A Confession from Yours Truly
I should confess that this past school year (I am a full-time English teacher and part-time piano teacher) was so busy that, in addition to not posting at all on this website for five months (or the entire second semester plus now most of June), I also have not finished reading The Cuckoo’s Calling. I started it in July, shortly after it was announced that Robert Galbraith was, in fact, J.K. Rowling under a pen name. However, at that time, I would read a few chapters and then put it down for a few weeks or even months. I found it a chore to read. It hasn’t been nearly as fast-paced and suspenseful as the Harry Potter books. I am about halfway through it, and now that The Silkworm is out, I am determined to finish The Cuckoo’s Calling. Once I do, I plan to write a short review about it on GoodReads (feel free to add me)!
But enough about me. I will finish The Cuckoo’s Calling and after that, I will read The Silkworm. But even more than that, I will write more often for this website (at least for the summer). And that’s a promise.
The Silkworm is available for purchase from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, etc.
Side note: I have to hand it to Amazon for not mentioning J.K. Rowling’s name on their page (the reviews do), and are letting the book sell itself, rather than Rowling’s “magical” name, whereas Barnes & Noble has a big bold sticker over the book cover image stating that J.K. Rowling wrote the book. Remember why J.K. Rowling wrote The Cuckoo’s Calling under a pseudonym in the first place: she wanted her craft and not her name to sell the book.
Once you’ve read The Silkworm, please share your thoughts in the comments!
